Shalom

Chapter Eleven

RHODA'S POV

As Shalom brisked past us, something dropped in my mind instantly.

"That was Shalom," I muttered within.

I tried to stretch my neck to see if I could catch a glimpse of her in the dark, but she was far gone out of sight.

I softly began to pray in tongues because her countenance I had seen was darkened somewhat mixed with distraught and depression.

Samantha and I entered the room and met Faith in the pool of tears. We were bewildered. Samantha rushed to her with concern etching her features.

Faith relayed to us what had transpired and I connected the dot. I immediately understood why the Holy Spirit had informed me a few days ago that she needed help.

As we were gisting, I suddenly sensed in my spirit that I needed to leave the room. It was a matter of urgency - something connected to Shalom. I told Faith and Samantha about my departure, they were filled with awe. However, they agreed and I left the room.

Outside was dark, but I was able to see clearly because the street light did justice to that.

I got to the road transfixed. I contemplated whether to take the one on my left side or my right side. After searching in my spirit, I took the right side and began a walk.

As I walked, I didn't stop praying in tongues.

SHALOM'S POV

I walked down the road, my countenance darkened with depression and anger. I was deeply furious because Faith shared her salvation experience with me.

"How could she? Who did she think she was? She was the saint and I was the sinner? What nonsense!" I spat.

The depression part was because her tale reminded me of what I was in the past before I drifted from His presence. I was a good Christian. I got saved under the ministration of my Dad. My relationship with God was on a high level because His love was so fuelled and ignited in my heart.

Until I entered the university and was distracted. And things got bad from there. I swam deeper and deeper into the pool of sin. I was a practically useless, hopeless, and good-for-nothing brilliant student attending classes and preparing for exams.

"I hate you, Shalom! I hate you!" I screamed and pinched myself so hard that I winced.

As if that wasn't enough, I marched to the middle of the tarred road and sat down.

Just then, a voice whispered to my ears.

"You can kill yourself, you know. You are useless to yourself and the people around you. You are a good-for-nothing cheap brat!"

"Oh, yes, I am." I laughed out loud in pain,  tears streaming down my face.

As I sat down expectantly, waiting for a fast-moving automobile to crush me to death, my phone whizzed. I pulled out and checked the ID.

It was Samuel. I groaned.

"Hello," my voice croaked.

"Hello, sis. What happened to you? Why are you crying?" He asked, his voice agitated.

"I hate myself! I just want to die!" I blurted out.

"Die?" He mused in shock.

Before I knew it, he started quoting the Scriptures. "You shall not die but live to declare the works of the Lord in the land of the living. I command every spirit of suicide out of you right now in the name of Jesus!" He started blasting in capital-lettered tongues.

Unmoved by what he said, I dropped the phone on the floor and wept my eyes out.

RHODA'S POV

After 30 minutes of walking down the road, I caught a glimpse of a lady seated down the middle of the road.

I was scared. I thought the lady was out of her mind medically. I felt a nudge to go and check her out.

"What if the lady is truly mad?" I mused but there was no response from the Holy Spirit.

Then, it came to my mind that I had come this far with God to start doubting His voice. I felt a pang of guilt and immediately apologized.

I crossed to the other side thinking I would drag her from the road. I moved in her direction, and my pace increased.

A few steps away from her, I saw a speedy moving vehicle in her direction. I was alarmed and not knowing what to do, I screamed "Jesus!"

I heard a loud shout from the lady and she immediately passed out. The vehicle swerved to the other side of the road almost causing an accident. Thankfully, it regained its balance and sped off.

I rushed to where the lady was and dragged her to the side where I had crossed and as a 400-level student of medicine, I began to do a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation on her.

The CPR procedure involves chest compressions, which help circulate blood through the body, and rescue breathing, which provides oxygen to the lungs. This helps keep the person alive until emergency medical services arrive.

After a few minutes, she twitched. It was then I realized that the lady was Shalom.  I hastily brought out my stethoscope from my tote bag, plugged the binaural earpieces into my ears, and placed the chest piece on the apex of her heart.

I could hear the sounds of her pumping heart in my ears. I heaved a sigh of relief and put the stethoscope back into my bag. But I knew by my medical instinct that she wasn't strong enough to stand on her feet let alone walk by herself.

I began to pray to God for a miracle. Suddenly, a vehicle approached us, I flagged it down. Thankfully, it was put to a halt and I gave a brief explanation to the driver of what had happened. He agreed that Shalom should be put into his car which I did with the helping hand of the driver.

After sliding into the car, I described my hostel. He started the engine and sped off. Shalom's head was on my lap. I placed my hand on her chest and began to pray another round of prayers.

To be continued.

A very intense chapter, right?